Go See THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON.

I snagged a free ticket to go see an advanced preview of this movie on Thursday night and I am still thinking about this movie, two days later. It's beautiful and terribly sad. It manages, in two hours to encompass all the wonderful potential of a human life and the cold, pointlessness of death. The overall theme of the movie is, "Nothing lasts. Enjoy what you have, while you've got it" which is a difficult thing for human beings to grasp. Most of us just don't think about it at all. But it's true. Everything and everyone changes. You can fight it and lose or accept it and move forward. I think that the movie makes the argument that a better, richer life is lived by those who accept it and move forward, deeply drinking in the life that they live, while they live it.

It's a sublimely beautiful film. Beyond David Fincher's hauntingly lovely world that he's created here and Brad Pitt & Cate Blanchett's remarkably subtle work here, the story, itself, is the biggest star. And it's one you haven't heard before. Because you're too busy living it.

This movie touched me pretty deeply. It made me ask questions about my own life, that I'm still struggling with now. It made me want to make some changes in the very small things that I can actually affect. I feel like there's the person I was before I saw this movie and the person that I am, now that I've seen it. And that these two people are not the same person. That there are shifts in perception that will ripple out and make bigger changes in my life and the lives of people around me. (If feels odd to think that a movie could do that for a person, but that's honestly how it feels for me. Maybe this is one of those truly great films like "Taxi Driver" and "The Godfather" that really shape the people who see it. I feel like it has changed me.)

Here's the trailer for the film. It neatly and quickly touches on every major moment of the movie. After seeing the film, I can't believe so much of it is in this trailer. But without the context of the moments you're seeing, it all just washes by, like so many pretty scenes, one after another. (After you see the movie, though, it's nice to see this flip-book of the moments of Benjamin Button's life. They're all here, in this trailer.)



Before I close this out with a link to a review that I want you to read, a review that nearly perfectly captures how I feel about this movie in a much more articulate way than I can, I want to forewarn you about something about this movie. It's heavy and it's deep and it's intense. The last 30 minutes of the movie are singularly focused on loss, old age and death. And they're very hard to take. I quietly cried to myself, for the last thirty minutes of the movie, straight. And when the credits rolled, I had to sit in my seat, listening to Alexander Desplat's beautiful music, collecting myself before I could get up and leave the theater. I want you to know how painful this movie is, before you think to go see it. Because it is. And you should know what you're getting into, before you go see it. So, consider yourself warned.

I want to link you to Moriarty's comprehensive review of the movie on AICN. You can read the review here. This guy, GETS this movie in a big way. I think it changed him too. And he's much smarter about analyzing why the film works so well. I think he'll tell you about it and answer your questions and allay your concerns, even though, he might have to spoil some key points of the movie to get you there. (So, if you're one of those people who hates spoilers - good on you, I can't do that - you might want to avoid this review.) I imagine, reading this review, without the context of what he's talking about, the details will wash by like pictures of someone else that you don't know. So, it might not be all that spoilerish, after all. Read the review. Maybe it will give a better explanation of what I am trying to say.

Here's a quote from his review...

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON is one of the most piercing, beautiful, eccentric studio movies in recent memory, an exquisitely crafted film about memory, love, opportunity, and the passage of time. Technical wizardry and emotional delicacy combine to create an experience that is, for lack of a better word, magic. Set during the landfall of Hurricane Katrina, BUTTON tells an epic-scale story that is actually an intimate emotional journey, unusual and unlike any other film I can name.

I absolutely agree. It is delicate and magical.

And it opens on Christmas Day.

Which means that you have 5 days to prepare yourself for it. Or to make plans to see it. Which you absolutely should.

Cheers,
Mr.B